Thank you guys (and GG). Your messages are quite timely as I got home from work to find Tia looking wooden and slow especially on the stairs so much so that hubby and I are rethinking our plans of our beach romp tomorrow and will sleep down stairs tonight.

She is so happy to see me at home but she looks so stiff as she walks. It is as if her spirit is super strong and beaming but her body is stiff.
I have no idea what this means.
Her gums look normal.

The weather here has turned awfully hot even at night and will continue to be hot for the next week at least. This has caused stumbling issues and seizure problems for us in the past

It reminds me how quickly things can change.

Have an extra slice of turkey and helping of dessert for us

I hope that Tia is doing well today and that the heat is not triggering seizures or stumbling. This has to be so hard for you. Try to remember that as we get older all of us have bad days among the good ones and change can take us up again as quickly as it takes us down. That's the rollercoaster ride of growing older. There are times when it isn't fun, but consider the alternative!

Forgive me for not remembering the details of Tia's treatments, but have you tried massage and/or acupuncture for Tia? Several of our members have reported excellent results from these treatments, both in terms of improved mobility and reduced pain. Gentle massage is something you can do yourself, of course, though there may be professional massage therapists in your area who work with dogs as there are here. I always found that Charlie loved for me to give him a massage, understanding the love that it expressed. Also, adequan injections can help with arthritis, actually promoting healing, as well as reducing inflammation and pain.

We managed to make it to the beach today at 6am. We intended to walk along the beach path and on the jetty. However Tia seemed to be doing ok and had a bright smile on her face even though she was slower than usual so we went for a quick splash in the water before having a seaside breakfast. Usually we would go for a decent walk and swim but we didn't want to push it. I am just happy that we still got to enjoy a family outing together.

I am wondering if this is a cancer issue as the tumor is near her weak leg? She has only started slowing down on her walks in the last week.

It could also be arthritis as we have stopped the flax seed oil as it can facilitate bleeds. We tried the injections but they did not work for T. We also tried pain killers but these made her anxious and quite sadly vocal. I have read that you need to be careful about massage with cancer patients so we do our usual pats, hugs and rubs and leave it at that. We have also tried acupuncture and a chiropractor but it was quite expensive and we did not see any results.

Thanks again for all of your kind thoughts!!
Sending bright and sunny skies your way in exchange for your cool breezes

Cgriffin - So do I as I am cold intolerant but I'm willing to rug up to keep my BF cool. Maybe we should organise a house swap :P LOL

Lauren, T felt so much better that she even went for an ungraceful back roll in the sand. She cannot mange a full shake or glide down the stairs but she could still roll on her back! They are always full of surprises aren't they? I hope that your guys are having a good weekend!!

Have you asked your vet about Rimidyl? It's an effective anti-arthritis med. However, it can't be taken while they're on Prednisone.

If T is on large doses of Prednisone could there be a possible ligament involvement on her leg? Our boy was on pretty heavy doses of Prednisone and tore a rear ACL. Healed up in 12 weeks OK. Just thinking out loud ...

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Rudy's Gotcha Day is February 1st, 2014 ANDY - You'll never be forgotten sweet boy

T is not on either. I have kind of resisted these medicines due to the side effects but I guess at this stage they don't matter.
Feeling 'normal' is such an important part of dealing with cancer. They might help her do that. I'll look into it. Thanks!

As far as the Prednisone or any chemo meds goes, you can use a liver supplement to help her liver function. When dogs get old their livers could use it anyway. Andy takes two hepato supplements. One is expensive ($110 a month for Denamarin) and the other is Hepato Support, $30 (what the vet charged us) for 180 tabs @ 4 capsules a day. If T isn't doing heavy duty chemo the Hepato Support may be enough.

Anyhoo, perhaps your vet can prescribe something for arthritis. Most dogs, like people, get it when they're older. Glucosomine-Chondroitin is a great supplement to lubricate the joints and build cartlidge strength. We buy that at a supermarket cheap. 2000mg (2 tabs @ 1000mg) a day is the proper dose for a dog 60-90 lbs.

it sounds like there's something going on with her joints or something. Could just be that she's a 'mature' girl. Something an anti-inflammatory/pain killer could help with greatly. Andy can't take Rimidyl because he takes Prednisone, so he gets 2 tabs of Tramadol (pain reliever) daily. 1 tab twice a day. However, doing something to treat the underlying cause of her stiffness/joint pain would probably be the ideal choice, provided your vet agrees it won't clash with whatever T takes now.

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Rudy's Gotcha Day is February 1st, 2014 ANDY - You'll never be forgotten sweet boy

We have been dealing with Tia's arthritis for over 3 years now so she been on the Glucosmine and Chondroitin for quite a while. I just thought that it was strange that it her arthritis has flared up quite quickly in the past week or two which made me think of a cancer link but then again I have reduced her fish oil and her flax seed oil as it facilitates bleeds so it looks as though I will have to look into some hard core pain medication.

Is it possible she stepped on something and hurt her paw, or got up too quickly and strained a joint or muscle? People do that too (like me now and then). Have you had any X-rays done? Andy hurt his paw a couple weeks ago. He was limping like crazy. Took a couple weeks to get all better. Luckily, no breaks, but the X-rays did show arthritis in his paw bones.

BTW, the Tramadol Andy takes is an opiate. Pretty good pain relief, but it does leave him more laid back .. until he knows we're going somewhere for fun, then he's a ball of energy. He's about 11-12 years old now. Growing old can suck.

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Rudy's Gotcha Day is February 1st, 2014 ANDY - You'll never be forgotten sweet boy